


Loyal

by under_the_silk_tree



Category: National Treasure (Movies)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Loyalty, M/M, Past Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22397704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/under_the_silk_tree/pseuds/under_the_silk_tree
Summary: Ben contemplates the word loyal and how it relates to Riley and their relationship
Relationships: Benjamin Franklin Gates/Riley Poole
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	Loyal

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my awesome beta jdl71. Sixth Fic for 100 fandoms prompt: bed. Also for smallfandomfest prompt: He's been there for him, with him, since the beginning.

Ben fell onto his side throwing the washrag he used to clean them up towards the bathroom. He missed by a wide margin and vowed to pick it up later. His rapid breathing was already starting to slow and the sweat on his bare skin cooling thanks to the lazily spinning fan above them. A well sated Riley had settled on his stomach snuggled up next to him, his eyes were closed, dark lashes resting against his skin. Unlike Riley, Ben always felt energized afterwards and so he propped his head up with one hand and smiled fondly down at the younger man. Riley on the other hand always got so drowsy after sex. 

_ It was downright adorable.  _

Unable to resist, Ben reached over and traced the outer shell of Riley’s ear; his brain automatically supplying the names…concha, tragus, helix that lead to more facts slipping into his thoughts. Like how Otzi the Iceman who lived around thirty-three hundred B.C, had his ear pierced. He pushed that info aside determined not to follow the rabbit trail his brain was trying to go down and ruin the tender afterglow that surrounded them in this moment. That’s how his thoughts tended to run though each thought was tied to various facts and they popped into his head uncalled for and more often than not they were more distracting than helpful. 

Then his hand moved on to Riley’s hair next, carding his fingers into the dark locks, he found the hair was slightly damp at the temples. Eyes still closed, Riley hummed appreciatively, as Ben’s fingertips continued their journey down the back of his neck following the spine…cervical, thoracic, and lumbar, and another random fact drifted across his mind that the first spinal surgery was in ancient Egypt around three thousand B.C. He actually thought about sharing that tidbit when his eye caught on the four inch long scar that was located just along Riley’s rib cage, and without conscious thought he found his fingers circling the mark. 

Five years ago, Riley had been stabbed in the back, literally and figuratively, by a man who they had both trusted. The knife had hit Riley’s rib, shattering it but probably saving his life as it kept the knife from sinking into his heart. They had been on a hunt for a mythical treasure that was supposedly buried in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A local professor and old friend of Ben’s, a Dr. Faraday had joined them. When they had finally found the artifacts the man double crossed them and Riley paid the price. After a brief tussle Ben knocked the man unconscious, and then carried Riley down the mountain to the nearest road where a passerby had called nine-one-one. 

Ben leaned down and brushed a kiss across the slightly upraised scar not putting too much pressure on it because even after all these years the skin was still sensitive. The fact that Riley bore this scar was one of Ben’s biggest regrets. He had trusted the wrong person again just like when he had trusted Ian all those years ago. Riley had almost been killed then too. 

Their relationship had just changed from friends to lovers a couple of weeks before that ill fated trip to California and Ben honestly had been afraid that Riley might end it between them before they had ever really gotten a chance to explore what the two of them could be to each other. But in the end, Riley had been his ever loyal self and continued to love him even though his relationship with Ben had almost killed him. He’d been there for him, with him, since the beginning. He was loyal…maybe to a fault.

Riley shifted a bit and with eyes still closed mumbled, “I can smell smoke.”

Drawn from his spiraling thoughts of guilt and remorse, Ben said, “What?” confused as he didn’t smell anything.

“From you thinking too hard. What are you pondering over there that has you so quiet?”

“Did you know the word loyal is of French origin? In fact it is from the Old French word loial which was first used around the 1530’s as one who is faithful and honorable,” Ben said his words both frenetic and a bit of a dodge. 

Riley shifted onto his back and opened his eyes blinking blearily up at Ben, “Ooookay,” he said drawing out the word in worried confusion. 

Ben’s thoughts rushed on his brain making a thousand connections from the word loyal and how they correlated to the man he loved who was lying next to him. 

“Penelope!” Ben shouted eagerly. 

Riley jumped and when that didn’t clear up the confused look on the younger man’s face, he continued, “Penelope, like you, was fiercely loyal. She waited faithfully for Odysseus even though it took him twenty years to find his way home to her.” Ben meeting his boyfriend’s eyes had a feeling that like Odysseus if he had taken another twenty years to figure out what was right in front of him that Riley would have waited and been by his side. 

Riley yawned widely and then asked, “Where is this coming from?”

Unable to meet Riley’s eyes he said in a low voice, “I can’t help but think sometimes you get the short end of the stick in this relationship. I’ve dragged you along on so many adventures, some that worked out and some that were nothing more than a wild goose chase. You’ve almost died several times.” Ben knew he probably wasn’t making a lot of sense but he hoped somehow that he got his point across.

Riley picked up his hand and placed it on his chest twining their fingers together. Ben could feel Riley’s heartbeat under his fingertips and took comfort in the steady rhythm. 

Then he placed a hand along Ben’s chin and Ben met Riley’s eyes just as the other man declared, “Odysseus was a dick.”

Ben huffed out a laugh in surprise and raised his eyebrows at that unexpected statement. 

“I’ve never liked him, always seemed like such an arrogant bastard. Plus he cheated on Penelope with that sea witch person,” he continued seriously, although there was a twinkle in his eye. 

“Circe,” Ben supplied, wondering where this was going.

“Whatever,” Riley deadpanned before continuing in a special tone that he knew Riley only used when he thought Ben was being particularly thick. “My point is, I am not Penelope, you’re not Odysseus, and we are not a Greek myth. You didn’t drag me along. I am not here out of some misguided sense of loyalty. I am here because I love this action-adventure-solving-decades-old-mysteries-to-find-the buried-treasure lifestyle we’ve created.” 

He then pushed up and brushed his lips against Ben’s and whispered, “And most importantly because I love you.”

“I love you too,” Ben said in a low voice cupping the back of Riley’s head and kissing the other man deeply. 

Then Riley pulled him down into his arms. Ben went willingly, eagerly, as Riley drew him into another long kiss, their bodies fitting together easily. Soon there were only loving caresses and whispered promises against heated skin.

** The End **


End file.
